The Billionaire’s Housekeeper

Chapter 8

“I know mother, but this is all so new…and so sudden.”

George and Anne were out by the pier at their favorite seafood restaurant. The sky was almost blackened by the chance of a coming rainstorm, but they decided to chance it anyway.

George had spent the last few days with Anne, who didn’t feel as if she was overstepping a boundary when she continued to mention to him that he was making a huge mistake.

George explained to Anne what Julie had said, and how difficult it was for him to balance so many things in his life. Trying to help Rita had changed the course of everything. The public thought he was sleazy, the value of his company plummeted because of bad press, and Julie was asking to be compensated even more for emotional damages that didn’t even exist.

 “Don’t listen to that viper. She just wants to make trouble for everyone. She always has,” Anne Ainsworth said. She put a straw in her mouth and sucked down a Bloody Mary.

“That’s not what I mean. I meant what’s been happening with Rita.”

“Oh? You two finally admitted you’re head over heels for each other, and now you’re running away like a child?” Anne snorted into her straw. She was on her third drink, and George knew he would have to cut her off soon. She was a tumultuous drunk, but the worst part was that she had no filter, and was usually always right.

“Yes…but with all that’s happening with Julie. I don’t think this is something I can handle right now,” George sighed and looked down at his barely eaten meal.

“What are you saying?” Anne said. She was looking very serious now. She really liked Rita, and she liked how she was making George happier. The thing standing in the way was her ex daughter-in-law who was out to destroy everything for George out of plain spite.

“I may have to end things with Rita. It may be for the best.”

“That’s total bullsh*t George,” Anne hiccuped. “Don’t let the pain of one relationship carry into another. Rita isn’t anything like Julie, thank God, and you could use a bit more happiness in your life. Look what Julie’s doing to you! You can’t turn away from someone who really loves you…who you really love. How many of us get a chance to find love under such amazing circumstances?”

George rolled his eyes. He was about to respond when he heard his phone ringing. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.

“Mr. A?”

“Jose?” George was surprised to hear Jose on the other end of the line.

“Mr. A, where are you?” Jose sounded almost frantic. That made George perk up in his chair, his eyes wide.

Anne leaned in closer in an attempt to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the call.

“What’s going on Jose?” George asked.

“It’s Rita. I tried to stop her, but she says she won’t change her mind,” Jose said desperately. “I was with her the night that you left. She’s been crying for days now. She told me this morning that she booked a flight back to Montreal.”

“What?” George shouted. Several people walking by turned their heads to see what all the commotion was about, but quickly went back to their own business.

“I’ve been trying to talk her out of it. I told her to wait for you. She said she couldn’t wait and that she was doing the best that she could for herself. She took out what was left in her savings,” Jose said. He was exasperated. The one person he knew Rita would listen to was George. He didn’t want to see his friend get hurt, but he knew that she loved George, and that was all that mattered to Jose. He didn’t want her to leave with so much left unsaid, and to put herself in potential danger by going back to Montreal.

“When is her flight?” George asked desperately.

“At 5 today…”

And suddenly nothing else mattered to George. His business would survive, the press would move on, and Julie would eventually be bored. The only thing that mattered to him right now was Rita. He was prepared to let her go in order to save himself, and now she was going to leave him. He couldn’t have that.

“Thank you, Jose. Thank you. I won’t let her leave. Please tell her not to go,” George said. He hung up the phone and looked up at his mother, who was staring wide eyed at him.

“What in the hell is happening?” she asked.

“I can’t talk right now. I have to go,” George said, grabbing his belongings and getting up from the chair.

Anne shook her head at him as he turned away.

“Finally!” she muttered loudly enough for him to hear before taking another long sip of her Bloody Mary.

*****

It was pouring rain by the time George got to the mansion. He didn’t care that he was soaking wet when he burst through the door. He was moved by adrenaline, fear, and anger. He was afraid that he couldn’t fix things with the woman he truly cared about, and he was overwhelmed by how furious he was with the woman from his past.

He called Julie on his way back to the mansion, and gave her a piece of his mind. He wasn’t going to be threatened or talked down to. He was so upset that he ended up telling Julie the whole truth of the matter, and that there hadn’t ever been an affair. Julie blubbered through the phone and had more to say, but he didn’t bother listening. He hung up the call before she could speak. If there was anything else that she needed to say, then she could get in touch with his lawyer.

“Rita?!” George called out once he shut the door behind him. He was dripping from head to foot. He was so full of adrenaline that the cold hadn’t even hit him yet.

George trudged through the house, leaving a trail of water everywhere. He called out to Rita as he made his way through the rooms and even up the stairs. Her things weren’t in the guest room, even though she had moved a lot of them to the main bedroom since they had professed their feelings to one another.

George went to search his room, but her things weren’t in there either. His heart sank. It was too late. She was gone, and he didn’t know how on earth he could find her now.

He moved toward the second floor balcony. That was the best place for him to clear his head. He stopped in Julie’s art studio for a minute. He looked around at the vast emptiness of it. It was no longer Julie’s place for escape; it was now his own. It gave him his favorite view of the gardens. He would be able to see the little white cottage from there.

George’s eyes filled with tears, and as they trickled down his face, they merged with the rain drops that were flowing down his body. He was feeling everything that mattered to him slip away. He left Julie’s studio and took a step onto the balcony.

The sky was as dark as ever and there was no sign of any possibility that the rain would stop any time soon. He found his favorite chair and sat in it. He let his tears flow freely as he looked out into the garden.